Between the Pages
by RinRinLizzie02
Summary: Team RWBY has enrolled in Haven to complete their studies and become official Huntresses, but that also means the return of one thing: homework. The girls don't like the books they were assigned, but they will learn to read in between the lines.


It was a warm afternoon and all was quiet in the library of Haven Academy, students were sat at their tables studying: whether independently, or in small study groups. There were some bookshelves where the books they held were more used than others, these were the ones to hold the popular books, the ones that students picked up more to suit their for training or pleasure. There were books for everyone, and everyone who came in looking for something to get lost in always seemed to find what they were looking for.

The campus library was separated into two sections: one with desks and chairs, the more formal and organized part of the library; the other consisted of a few comfy seats and sofas, the area was normally always full when students wanted to be comfortable, so much so that they were willing to arrive early just to occupy the space for as long as they needed.

Luckily for two students, when they got to the library, one of the sofas which sat near a desk was free. The couple obviously decided to sit on the sofa, plopping themselves firmly on the cushions so any passersbyer who dared look would know they owned that couch. While they were glad to have found their spot, they were also disappointed that their class had been assigned to read an old fairytale book and write an essay on it, so many students were using areas of library they wouldn't normally use.

Although finding a place to sit was one challenge, what took away from the students enjoyment of the project was that they didn't have a say over what books they'd be writing about. The couple had been given their books when they arrived: the only silver lining was the amount of luck they had in being assigned books they were more than familiar with, and when they found them on the shelves they went and got comfortable on the sofa, snuggling up with each other and enjoying each other's company whilst reading their respective books.

One blue haired girl was happily reading _Peter Pan_, one of her favourite books, a no brainer choice that she'd read again and again. She read it countless times before, and despite knowing the story quite well, she never grew tired of reading it every chance she got, especially since the main character reminded her a lot of her boyfriend.

The boyfriend felt the same about the main character in his book, _The Little Mermaid_. He saw many similarities between the mermaid of the story and his own girlfriend, who shared a particular similarity thanks to her Faunus heritage. Every so often he would run his fingers through his girlfriend's hair as they read their stories. The couple didn't get to spend a lot of time with each other since the boyfriends team leader kept his team constantly training—with this assignment, it was their time to have another one of their _dates._

A giggle escaped the girlfriends lips as she read, which made the boyfriend curious. He wrapped his arm back around her waist and pulled her closer to him, and with a very kind voice, he asked her, "What are you laughing at there?"

The girlfriend lowered her book, looked up at him and said, "Something Peter does in the book; it's something you've done to me a few times and I just made me laugh." She smiled up at him but that didn't satisfy him.

"Care to tell me was that is? I've done maybe things with you...you'll need to narrow it down _Princess_." But before she could answer, he softly took the book out of her hands and hovered it over her head to read the page she was on. The girl on the other hand was not keen on the playful gesture.

"_Hey! Give it back!"_ Her arms went up to grab the book back, however, since he was taller, his arms were longer, and in the position they were in made it impossible for her to reach the book. While she kept trying to reach the book, the girl got upset and whined, "_Scarlet!" _

"Tell me, Ocean, and you _might _get the book back," Scarlet teased, keeping the book at arms reach from her. He always got a kick out of teasing Ocean: she would whine and pout, which he found adorable, and the bonus was it was easy to do.

Ocean didn't respond, instead she moved to try and grab the book herself, which lead to her kneeling on the sofa and over Scarlet's shoulder to try and grab the book, and much to the formers annoyance, she was getting closer because of it.

"Give me back my book!" Ocean demanded, her fingertips barely grazed the books cover before Scarlet moved his arm up higher. But it was no use, his arm was simply too high to reach, and so she collapsed back down to bury her face in his thigh whilst hitting his knee repeatedly with her palm. Once more, she whined, "_Ugh...Scarlet!"_

"_Fine, _Ocean, but only because you're adorable when you're pouting." And with his concession and a smile, he moved his arm back down to let her try and grab the book, but then he realised she was in a good position for him to tickle her. His smile devolved into a devious smirk, and he dropped both books onto the floor, then he grabbed his girlfriend and wrapped his legs around her so she wouldn't get away, and he started to tickle her sides.

"_No-iiiiiiiiigh! St-stah-ha-hop!"_ Laughter spilled from Oceans lips as she moved her arms to try and get her book back while also trying to push Scarlet away. But he didn't let up, and she continued to try and wriggle away from him, but Scarlet was a lot stronger than her, so it wasn't going to happen easily. She heaved, and cried, "_Ple-eeeease! S-stooop!"_

"I'll stop, but only if you agree to tell me why you giggled," Scarlet grinned, not showing any signs of stopping. He reveled in Ocean's laughter, which only bade him to continue.

Ocean continued to laugh until her stomach hurt, her heaving turned to wheezing, and tears fell from her eyes as she finally decided to concede, "_Okay!_ Oka-he-hey! I'll tell you!"

And just like that, Scarlet stopped, he removed his hands shifted them to her wrists and he gently held them, more so she would know if she didn't tell him, he'd start again.

Ocean took a moment to catch her breath, and once she had collected herself, she said, "Peter was just telling a story to the mermaids in mermaid lagoon. He enjoys the attention he gets from them, and it just reminded me of the stories you tell me…" she fluttered her eyes at him to accompany her cute little smirk.

"Oh? So you think I'm vain like Peter?" He smirked at her as his hands slowly moved back towards her sides, and he silently threatened her with the return of his daring smile.

"_No! I didn't say that!"_ Ocean cried, for that was not what she meant at all. She failed to understand how Scarlet got vanity from what she said to him.

"Oh, I think it is!" Scarlet began to tickle her softly again, forcing Ocean to once again fall into the inescapable pit of laughter that he loved to hear fill his ears. He missed spending time with her, and this was more than what he needed to make up for it.

As Ocean continued to laugh, she was getting slightly louder and louder. Apart from the students, there weren't that many people in the library that would be bothered by her balling. However, the librarian wasn't happy with the noise, and she made her way over to the pair and sternly told them, "If you two don't quit it, I'll have to kick you out: this isn't a place for you to have a date."

"_We're really sorry ma'am..." _the couple said in unison. Their answer from the Liberian came in the form of a nod before she turned and walked away.

Once the librarian was out of earshot, Ocean scooted away from Scarlet and held her hand out for her book. She threw Scarlet the stink eye and said, "_That_ was your fault, you know, I'm _not_ taking the blame for this. Can I have my book back now?"

Scarlet chuckled, leaning over to get the book and placing hers in her hand. "Well, _I_ wasn't the one being loud…" His smile turned into a smirk as he looked at her.

"_That's_ because _you_ were tickling me! It's not my fault!" Ocean huffed and turned her back so she no longer looked at him. Ocean opened her book again to find the page she last read, as she was flicking through, she felt Scarlet pull her back so she was lying against his chest. Neither spoke again as they went back to reading.

A few minutes past before Scarlet spoke up, "I guess I overstepped by tickling you there. I'm sorry princess." He leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"I forgive you…now, please, can we just read? The quicker we get these books done, the quicker we can spend some _actual_ time together." Ocean smiled as his lips graced her cheek.

"Alright, alright, back to reading I go." As Scarlet said this, the couple heard some new and loud people enter the area. The pair knew the voices well, and they both secretly hoped they would be left alone, this was technically their first date in a long time after all.

But, their wish wasn't to be. Around the corner came four girls who didn't look happy appeared, and much to the couples dismay, one of the girls spotted them: a bubbly blonde who gave them a bright smile as they walked closer. The blonde waved and said, "Oh, hey guys!"

Neither looked up from their books, nor did they move from their position, just because their friends were now there didn't mean they were going to change how they behaved. Because Ocean wasn't as familiar with the team as he was, Scarlet decided to speak up and say, "Hey Yang."

"I see you two have already started the assignment, I told you we should have gotten here earlier!" Weiss spoke up, clearly addressing her team, and unhappy with starting later than some of their classmates.

Ruby sat down at the desk closest to the sofa, which told the couple that their date was officially over. The young girl hunched over and whined, "_Ugh…_I don't understand _why_ we have to do this! Aren't we training to _be_ huntsmen and huntresses? Why do we have to read fairytales?"

"Wasn't the reason you _wanted_ to become a huntress because of a fairytale?" Blake asked, pointing out the flawed logic in Ruby's complaint. The rest of the team sat down at the table too.

"That's different, how do fairytales help us?" Ruby complained yet again before turning to Ocean and Scarlet, "What stories did you two get?"

Ocean looked up from her book, while she was still not comfortable, especially around the likes of a ball of energy like Ruby, she still chose to reply to her question and say, "I got Peter Pan, and Scarlet got The Little Mermaid."

"_How fitting..."_ Yang teased, wiggling her eyebrows up and down while looking at Ocean, she ended up making the girl blush and hide her face in her book.

"W-what about you guys?" Ocean asked while trying not to look at Yang, she knew her blonde haired friend was much like Scarlet, in that she took joy embarrassing them as a couple, and she would do anything to make the pair blush.

"I got _Little Red Riding Hood_...you know, the girl who gets eaten by a wolf 'cause she's to stupid to see her grandmother is a _wolf!_" Ruby huffed before getting up to go and find said book, clearly she wasn't happy with the story choice.

Scarlet, however, couldn't help but laugh, he found the coincidence hilarious, and his sudden fit of laughter made Ocean jump as he said, "Quite fitting for the _little _girl who wears a _red_ cape with a _hood_!"

Ocean agreed that it was _slightly_ funny, but she decided to keep her mouth shut as Scarlet had already mentioned it.

Weiss cleared her throat and said, "I, however, have the tale of _Snow White and the Seven Dwarves..._I don't mind this tale, one of the butlers used to read it to me all the time, although she isn't exactly the _smartest apple in the bunch_…" Weiss paused, very proud of the pun she just made. Upon turning to meet Yang's eye, she got a smile and a thumbs up from the blonde. Then she straightened her petticoat, and said, "She takes food from a stranger! Who does that?!"

Blake placed her book down on the table, having heard what Weiss said, and she felt the need to tell her, "Hey, I love that story! It's better than mine at least. Snow White doesn't fall in love with the guy who keeps her as a prisoner." Clearly, this story left a bad taste in Blake's mouth.

"So, you have _Beauty and the Beast_?" Ocean asked. She decided to move over so she sat next to Scarlet, which he didn't like, but she knew he wasn't going to make a big deal about it in front of their friends.

"_I do..."_ Blake groaned, "I love books, but I don't like this particular story."

"I think I'm the only one who likes her book out of us four, I got _Goldilocks and the Three Bears_. I used to love this story as a child, so I'm glad I got this book, maybe I'll finally get a good grade!" Yang said. She seemed really excited about the idea of possibility doing better on this task than the rest of her studies.

"_Ugh_...mines so old I can't even _find_ it!" Weiss groaned, "Where am I supposed to start to find this book?!"

"Ask the librarian?" Blake looked at Weiss like it was common knowledge, which it was, to normal people, but she would've thought someone as knowledgeable as Weiss knew that already..._I suppose that means I know something she doesn't._

"_Fine_," Weiss said as she walked towards the librarians counter, but then a direction sign caught her eye. She thought to herself..._maybe I'll do one better and look at the directions. _

According to the arrows, the section of the library she was looking for was somewhere near the west corner of the building, and apparently it was its own dedicated section..._I suppose Fantasy is of particular interest to this institution. _

Weiss followed the signs directions to the section she was looking for, it was oddly the least populated part of the whole building too, she thought maybe more visitors would be eager to grab a story to take them into some fantastical world. But no, the Fantasy and Fiction sections of the library were as barren as the Vacuoan desert. Frankly she was glad there were no other people here, having to contend with people getting in her way would've been a hassle. Although, even with no one to get in her way, there was no sign of the book she'd been assigned. There were plenty of other books, but hers wasn't among them. She searched high and low, from end to end, and nothing.

"_Well, _this is just _great. _How am I supposed to write a paper on a book I can't fi-_thump…_" Weiss paused after lightly kicking her foot under the bookshelf. She was expecting to just hit the wood underneath, but instead she felt her toes hit something. She raised an eyebrow while kneeling down to see what she'd stumbled upon, and after she reached down and pulled, she ended up finding a large book with an old beat up cover. The title was more than faded, it was practically peeled off the front of the hardback itself, but what was still legible was the name of the author.

"Who's _Ludwig Wilhelm Karl?_" Weiss asked, even though no one was there to answer her. Since there appeared to be no indication on the outside if _this_ was the book she was looking for, she thought she'd have a look inside and see for herself. So she peeled open the musky cover, and she was surprised to see the pages were oddly pristine, hardly even a sign of wear anywhere on the edges. She shrugged, and she kept flipping through until she found the index, and her eyes grew wide with surprise. A curious smirk crawled through her lips as she said, "Well, well, what do we have here?"

Satisfied with what she'd found, Weiss closed the book and carried it with her back to the group. She brandished a one of her signature grins like she won the lottery. There was a sort of jump in her step on her way to show the girls what she found. And although she seemed more amiable than when they arrived, Yang was the first to make it fall fall apart the moment she laid eyes on the book.

"Weiss, you didn't need to bring back _that_ thing, _heh-heh-heh_!" Yang laughed seeing how big the book was.

Weiss three her an annoyed frown, and with a huff she told her, "It's the _only_ book that has my story in it. But look, all of our stories are in here too." Weiss opened it up to let them look at the index page, and she was right. All six of their stories were in this one book.

"Jeez, that's some old book…" Yang stated as she and the rest of her team looked at the book. Then she looked over to see Ocean leaning against Scarlets arm as he quietly read out loud a part of his book, something Yang was aware he knew she'd like. "I think we've crashed a _date…_" Originally she just intended the comment to be heard by her team, however the couple heard it too causing the pair of them, mostly Ocean, to blush. "_Bingo_."

"_S-shut up!"_ Ocean blurted out as she hid her face in her book. This was so embarrassing for her, she hated being teased by anyone other than Scarlet, but that was only because she liked him too much to let it get to her. She was still getting used to socialising with big groups of people, though she wasn't used to being treated _normal _just yet..._Yang always teases us. _

A voice broke through her thoughts, she turned to see Scarlet had stood up and was looking at Yang, "...If you _must_ know, this is the first time Ocean and I have spent time together just _us_ in two weeks. Sun has us training non stop, the only reason we get to hang out if for projects like this." He then turned and looked down at Ocean with his warm eyes, softly smiling as he asked her, "I'm going to grab a drink and a snack, want anything Ocean?"

Ocean looked up at him for a moment as she tried to decide what she wanted. Once she made her decision, she said, "_Hmm…_could I just have some water please?"

"Sure thing, I'll be right back." Scarlet then turned towards the rest of the girls, and he asked them the same thing, "Any of you want anything?"

The four girls erupted in what they wanted him to buy them. Scarlet had to pull out his scroll just to keep track of everything.

"Jeez…it's like you want the whole store. Well, I'll be back later...oh, and Yang? Please don't break Ocean while I'm gone...you and I both know she's a doll." And with a wink aimed at his girlfriend, Scarlet headed out of the library to leave the five girls alone.

"I can't make any promises, _pirate boy_." Yang grinned at Ocean, but her words weren't for her. She then burst into a fit of laughter and said, "Don't worry, I won't tease you anymore."

Ocean smiled as she got up and walked towards them. "Are you sure this is the only book with your story in it? This will certainly be a bore to carry everywhere…" she commented before getting a glare from the ice queen herself. She dialed back her tone and said, "Sorry I questioned you!"

"_Hmph_, at least _you_ and that idiot boyfriend of yours have decent books…you should be thankful..." Weiss said coldly, "...only you, him, and Yang like your books."

Ocean just stood there, _she called Scarlet an idiot… _Deciding it was best not to say anything she just turned her back and went to the sofa once more. _I really don't understand, Weiss really doesn't like me...huh, she kinda reminds me of tinkerbell._

Blake and Yang noticed the different in behaviour from their blue haired friend, the pair looked at each other and then over to Weiss. Blake spoke out softly, "You know that was a bit rude…"

"Just because Neptune isn't-" Yang began before Weiss slammed her hands on the table, which got the attention of everyone, including Ocean.

Weiss took a breath while a wave of silence filled the air. After she exhaled, she crossed her arms and said, "I don't care about him, not anyone associated with him."

Ocean knew all too well what happened, she just sat there in silence, pretending to read her book, but all she could think about was what was keeping Scarlet.

_Scarlet, please hurry back…_Ocean thought nervously. Although she knew Weiss didn't know Neptune was actually pining after her lately, but with Sun keeping them busy all the time it was nearly impossible for him to get close to her. Ocean resigned to just sit where she was, her eyes staring into space while her heart hurt, all while her head throned with sad thoughts..._She hates me… Neptune… Scarlet..._

"Oh grow up Weiss," Blake said, managing to get Oceans attention and making her look up. "I thought you'd changed, it's been over a year since he didn't ask you to that dance. Haven't you two sorted things out?"

By this point Yang had sat down next to Ocean. She kept a considerable distance from her, of course, figuring the last thing Ocean would want is to be more uncomfortable than she already was. Though she did rest her arm up on top of the cushions towards the blue-nette, and said, "There's no need to be so mean to our lovey-dovey couple just cause you haven't seen him in a while."

_Are they… standing up for us?..._Ocean thought, growing a little surprised. She looked up at Yang and Blake again, and she noticed the former had her Scroll out and typing something neither she nor herself could possibly make out..._is she typing without looking?_

Yang continued, "Now, I thought the reason we were given these stories was because our teacher saw us in our characters, but you sure are no Snow White."

After hearing this, Weiss started to become annoyed at her teammate for saying such a thing, and that would extend to Blake too as she took Yang's side and said, "Ocean and Scarlet have books reflecting each other, and they play off their characters pretty well. You're not anything like Snow White."

Then Weiss's face began to turn visibly red, and she shouted, "Of course I'm not like Snow White, I'm not dumb enough to take food from a stranger! Why would I want to be like her anyways?"

Ruby took a moment to think of the correlation, but once she put two and two together, she cried, "Wait! If you think we are like our book counterparts…_uuugh! _I would _never_ think a wolf is my grandma!" Then she turned to Blake and said to her, "You said you didn't like your book, so how could you say _we_ are like our characters?!"

Blake kept her composure while she looked Ruby in the eye and told her, "I may not like the book, but that doesn't mean I can't see myself in a few of the characters, like Belle and...well, you get the idea." She seemed to recall something she wasn't fond of, and Yang knew why, as the blonde went over to wrap her arm over her shoulders.

Yang looked over at Ocean who was still just staring at the same page of her book. She could tell Ocean was nervous being around them. Come to think of it, this was the first time she was alone with them. _Some impression we've made… _she thought, and then she said, "Don't worry about them, you'll get used to our crazy dynamic in time."

"_T-thank you…I just want Scarlet to come back…"_ Ocean whispered, not looking up from her book.

Yang gave her a warm grin, and she told her, "I can tell, and I know you aren't comfortable around us yet, but you are our friend Ocean, regardless of how Weiss acts about her feelings for your brother. You're _our_ _friend_."

Ocean just smiled at Yangs words, and that was enough to bring her spirits up by a little bit. .

The five girls all returned to reading in silence, eagerly waiting for Scarlet to return with their food and drinks. What should have been a ten minute trip turned out to be over half an hour. Ocean was still on the sofa, but Yang had moved back to be with her team. The four of them joked and teased each other as they discussed their books, and all but Yang complained about the dumb things the characters were doing.

Then, just when Ocean thought she'd have to go and look for him, Scarlet returned carrying a large bag full of the various foodstuffs they'd ordered. Upon his approach, he jovially said, "I'm back!"

Ocean's heart fluttered, and her eyes seemed to light up; she was so happy to hear Scarlets voice as he rounded the corner to them. He smiled brightly before placing two bags on the table for RWBY to pick through while he walked back to sit beside her.

"What took you so long?!" Ocean whined as she tugged on Scarlets arm, she wanted him to get an idea of her distaste for him taking so long.

Yang saw a perfect opportunity to tease, but just this once, she let it slide. She walked away to let the couple be _a couple_.

Scarlet laughed while Ocean continued tugging on his arm. It took a moment for him to convince her to stop, but he did, and after doing so, he said to her, "Well, I thought I'd get you your favourite snack, and to do that I had to walk a bit further to get to the right shop…" he placed one bag between himself and her before leaning closer so he could whisper in her ear, "_more of an apology for leaving you and making you uncomfortable, Yang texted me."_

Ocean recalled the moment Yang had brought out her Scroll, and while she was impressed she could even find the send button without looking, she wanted to see what Yang had actually managed to type; if anything at all. She asked Scarlet, "What exactly did she say?"

Scarlet began to snicker, as he knew exactly what she was talking about. He said nothing as he brought out his Scroll and opened the chat window for Ocean to see. The message read: _Hurty uo. Zhe is getyibg merbois._

It was a jumbled mess, and it was enough for Ocean to began to laugh. She turned to see Yang making a thumbs up towards her. She smiled at Yang before she caught her breath and looked back at the bag Scarlet had put between them. Upon opening it, she let out a sharp gasp after seeing Scarlet had gotten her favorite treat. At a loss for words, Ocean could only put together the first words that came to her, and she said, "You...you didn't...have too…Scarlet-"

"Don't do this, you know you want one..." Scarlet teased as he put his fingers against her lips, and with his offhand he pulled out the treat for her: chocolate covered strawberries. He held it up in Oceans view, and while he looked it over, his grin grew bigger as he said, "I guess I could always eat them myself if you don't want them..."

"Gimme!" Ocean moved her hands to try and grab the bag the rest were in, though Scarlet gladly let her take them from him. She saw him smile at her as she ate the sweet treats out of the bag, she knew it was all he needed to see her appreciation. And then she reminded herself that Scarlet only had one—which he'd eaten while she was scarfing down hers—and so she slowed down long enough for her to bring another one out to offer to him. She smiled with a chocolate covered grin and said, "Here, you did buy them after all, it's only fair you get the..." she counted how many were left in the bag, "last two."

A smirk crept along Scarlets lip, one Ocean knew all too well, marked by her cheeks preemptively blushing even though he had yet to do anything. He leaned forward and bit into the strawberry whilst she held it. After chewing and swallowing, he said, "Thanks, _princess_"

"And thank you, my precious idiot…" Ocean threw him a bright, toothy grin as she brought the remaining strawberry to bare. She bit into the desert and chomped down on it whole, only to show off an unsightly red and brown stained smile before she turned and faced away from him.

Scarlet grinned, for as much as Ocean wouldn't admit it, he won yet again, and so he took his attention away from Ocean to face the others. He asked them, "So, ladies, did I miss anything fun?"

"Not really..." Yang sighed, "you took my entertainment away, I know I kinda _made you _hurry up, but how can I tease a couple with just half of you?" This caused both she and Scarlet to laugh. Then she confessed, "All you missed where _these three_ nerds complaining about their books…even more." She pointed at the rest of her team for emphasis.

Ruby stomped her foot down and whined, "_Again_, I would like to point out you like _your_ book, and I could make such a better Red Riding Hood."

Weiss crossed her arms once again and said with a huff, "I would _never_ take food from a stranger, so with that in mind, I think I'd make a _much _better Snow White. Honestly, she's so carefree it hurts."

Blake placed her book down on the table and added, "I would never fall in love with either of the types in this story: not the vain Gaston or the Beast who keeps prisoners for stealing a rose."

"Oh calm down, it's not like there's any way to find out if you would do a better job than them. After all, they're made up, aren't they?" Yang laughed at her own comment. "There's no way…"

Suddenly, Weiss's book flipped open to the beginning all on its own. All six students jumped up with shock, they didn't know what was happening, the books pages just started to turn until they landed on the first story on the index: _Little Red Riding Hood_.

"What the-"

The pages began to shine bright, but only the group could see, and with a flash, they were gone. All their stuff laid scattered around the table and sofa, but the once open book was now closed, and not a single one of the owners of any of the items were to be seen.


End file.
